Saturday night's late game on Hockey Night in Canada followed a pretty great Toronto/Montreal game with playoff implications. Calgary's tilt with Edmonton didn't have playoff implications, although at times it did have a playoff-like atmosphere. No, this year's installments of the Battle of Alberta have been about the future.

On Saturday night in Edmonton, the Calgary Flames beat the Edmonton Oilers because their younger players were bigger difference-makers than the Oilers' younger players.

THE RUNDOWN

The first period was up-tempo and spirited, with many scoring chances for either side (24 total in the 20 minutes). The play itself was fairly even, with both sides generating chances but over time, the clubs implementing some defense and keeping things more and more to the outside. Calgary opened the scoring via the Kid Line of Markus Granlund, Sean Monahan and Joe Colborne. The trio cycled the puck, with Colborne winning a puck battle and chipping a puck to Monahan, who put a shot over Bryzgalov for his 17th of the season. On the very next face-off, Kevin Westgarth tangled with Luke Gazdic and was trounced. He left the game after going down hard after four straight punches to his face and did not return. First period shots were 11-9 Flames, attempts were 24-22 Oilers, chances were 13-11 Flames and face-offs were 14-6 Oilers. That'll be important later.

The second period was much lower-tempo and low event. The highlight was Edmonton's first power-play, where they peppered the Flames with shots and Calgary's defenders earned their money, losing sticks and blocking shots all over the place. The Flames late-period power-plays were, to be blunt, not good. The Oilers used movement and passing to open up shooting lanes, the Flames stayed more or less stationary and cycled around the periphery. Calgary played solid at even-strength but couldn't generate much. Shots were 6-3 Oilers, attempts were 23-13 Oilers, chances were 9-6 Oilers and face-offs were 10-5 Oilers. But they couldn't solve Berra, so the Flames held a slim lead heading into the third.

The Flames pushed back more in the third, but were kept to the outside for the most part by Edmonton. The Oilers went back to basics a bit, playing fairly good positional defense and hoping the Flames would get frustrated. It worked to some extent. And oddly, the Oilers tying goal was a mirror of the Calgary goal - the Oilers out-worked the Flames Kid Line on the boards and David Perron scored from the face-off dot with a moving screen on Reto Berra. The tempo picked up after the goal, with the Flames working harder to generate chances, but the game remained tied and went to OT. Shots were 13-7 Calgary, attempts were 26-17 Calgary, face-offs were 14-13 Edmonton and chances were 7-5 Edmonton.

There was one scoring chance in OT. On the boards, Paul Byron beat an Oilers defender to the puck, created some separation with some body contact, and fed linemate Sean Monahan as he was heading towards the slot. Monahan beat Bryzgalov for the second time in the game to win the game for the Flames. It was Monahan's 18th goal of the year. Shots were 3-0 and face-offs - often a bane of Calgary's existence - were 4-0 for the Flames.

WHY THE FLAMES WON

For all the talk of how talented Edmonton's core of young players are, David Perron and Ales Hemsky were probably the best Oilers. Granted, Calgary didn't get a whole heck of a lot out of their veterans offensively, but Monahan and whoever he was playing with - a combination of Colborne, Byron and Granlund - were difference-makers for the Flames when it mattered most.

SCORING CHANCES

Team

Period

Time

Note

Home

Away

State

Away

1

18:39

Galiardi

2

4

80

83

85

93

4

11

24

29

39

44

5v5

Home

1

18:05

Gazdic

5

20

21

28

80

94

5

7

8

23

29

60

5v5

Away

1

17:24

Bouma

5

14

21

57

80

89

4

15

17

29

32

44

5v5

Home

1

17:01

Hendricks

6

15

19

23

27

80

3

6

13

18

29

54

5v5

Home

1

16:13

Hemsky

2

4

80

83

85

93

5

7

11

24

29

39

5v5

Home

1

14:38

Eberle

14

15

19

57

80

89

3

6

8

23

29

60

5v5

Home

1

14:33

N.Schultz

14

15

19

57

80

89

3

6

8

23

29

60

5v5

Away

1

14:06

Russell

2

6

23

27

80

85

4

13

18

29

44

54

5v5

Home

1

12:40

Nugent-Hopkins

4

15

19

80

83

93

5

7

11

24

29

39

5v5

Away

1

12:22

Stajan

14

15

19

57

80

89

4

13

18

29

44

54

5v5

Home

1

11:19

Gazdic

2

5

20

28

80

94

3

6

8

23

29

60

5v5

Away

1

10:00

Monahan

2

4

80

83

85

93

5

7

8

23

29

60

5v5

Away

1

9:46

Monahan goal

2

4

80

83

85

93

5

7

8

23

29

60

5v5

Home

1

8:53

N.Schultz

4

15

19

80

83

93

5

7

11

24

29

39

5v5

Away

1

8:31

Backlund

4

14

15

19

80

93

5

7

8

11

24

29

5v5

Away

1

8:30

Backlund

4

14

15

19

80

93

5

7

8

11

24

29

5v5

Away

1

7:58

Byron

2

14

57

80

85

89

4

17

29

32

39

44

5v5

Away

1

6:46

D.Jones

5

6

21

23

27

80

3

6

13

18

29

54

5v5

Away

1

6:39

Stajan

5

6

21

23

27

80

3

6

13

18

29

54

5v5

Home

1

3:35

Joensuu

2

6

23

27

80

85

5

7

8

23

29

60

5v5

Away

1

2:34

Galiardi

5

14

21

28

80

94

4

11

24

29

39

44

5v5

Away

1

1:27

Giordano

2

4

80

83

85

93

5

7

13

18

29

54

5v5

Home

1

0:43

Hendricks

6

19

21

23

80

89

4

8

23

29

44

60

5v5

Home

1

0:37

Joensuu

6

15

19

23

80

89

4

8

23

29

44

60

5v5

Home

2

19:34

Nugent-Hopkins

4

15

19

80

83

93

4

13

18

29

44

54

5v5

Home

2

17:34

Hall

4

19

80

83

93

94

3

17

18

29

44

5v4

Home

2

16:56

J.Schultz

4

19

80

83

93

94

3

17

18

29

44

5v4

Home

2

16:37

Smyth

4

19

80

83

93

94

3

17

18

29

44

5v4

Home

2

16:24

Hall

4

19

80

83

93

94

3

17

18

29

44

5v4

Home

2

16:04

Ference

2

14

21

57

80

89

4

7

11

29

32

5v4

Home

2

16:02

Gagner

2

14

21

57

80

89

4

7

11

29

32

5v4

Away

2

10:40

Giordano

5

14

21

57

80

89

3

5

18

23

29

44

5v5

Home

2

9:04

Smyth

15

19

20

28

80

94

3

6

13

17

29

54

5v5

Away

2

8:26

Backlund

15

19

20

80

83

94

4

11

24

29

39

44

5v5

Home

2

2:30

Smyth

2

20

28

80

85

94

3

6

8

23

29

60

5v5

Away

2

1:59

Hudler

15

21

23

27

80

4

5

11

24

29

54

4v5

Away

2

1:52

Hudler

15

21

23

27

80

4

5

11

24

29

54

4v5

Away

2

1:24

Russell

2

21

80

93

94

4

5

11

24

29

54

4v5

Away

2

0:22

Cammalleri

2

23

80

93

4

5

11

13

24

29

3v5

Home

3

17:27

Marincin

2

14

57

80

85

89

3

7

11

24

29

39

5v5

Home

3

14:35

Hemsky

4

5

21

80

83

93

4

11

24

29

39

44

5v5

Away

3

14:14

Galiardi

4

5

21

80

83

93

4

7

11

24

29

39

5v5

Away

3

12:17

Cammalleri

5

23

27

80

85

6

7

13

23

29

60

4v5

Away

3

11:52

Giordano

15

21

80

93

94

4

5

11

13

24

29

4v5

Home

3

11:18

Eberle

5

14

19

57

80

89

4

5

11

13

29

39

5v5

Home

3

10:17

Perron goal

2

14

57

80

85

89

4

13

18

29

44

54

5v5

Home

3

7:27

Hemsky

2

4

80

83

85

93

4

13

18

29

44

54

5v5

Home

3

5:41

Nugent-Hopkins

4

15

19

80

83

93

4

23

29

32

44

60

5v5

Home

3

3:42

Hemsky

4

15

19

80

83

93

3

6

13

18

29

54

5v5

Away

3

2:58

Hudler

14

19

21

80

93

5

7

11

24

29

4v4

Away

3

0:06

Cammalleri

4

19

21

80

83

93

5

7

13

18

29

54

5v5

Away

4

3:11

Monahan goal

2

57

80

85

89

3

6

23

29

32

4v4

#

Player

EV

PP

SH

3

SMID, LADISLAV

14:59

4

8

00:00

0

0

01:33

0

4

4

RUSSELL, KRIS

19:48

8

8

03:54

5

0

01:10

0

2

5

GIORDANO, MARK

19:26

8

6

04:05

5

0

01:17

0

0

6

WIDEMAN, DENNIS

12:57

3

7

00:51

1

0

00:00

0

0

7

BRODIE, TJ

21:39

8

6

01:02

1

0

01:18

0

2

8

COLBORNE, JOE

11:42

4

8

00:00

0

0

00:01

0

0

11

BACKLUND, MIKAEL

16:49

7

6

03:35

5

0

01:24

0

2

13

CAMMALLERI, MIKE

16:18

6

7

02:51

3

0

00:00

0

0

15

WESTGARTH, KEVIN

01:33

1

0

00:00

0

0

00:00

0

0

17

BOUMA, LANCE

06:03

2

1

00:00

0

0

02:42

0

4

18

STAJAN, MATT

15:58

7

5

00:00

0

0

02:35

0

4

23

MONAHAN, SEAN

14:30

4

9

01:21

1

0

00:09

0

0

24

HUDLER, JIRI

17:16

7

5

03:54

5

0

00:00

0

0

29

BERRA, RETO

19

21

6

0

0

6

32

BYRON, PAUL

07:45

3

1

00:00

0

0

01:09

0

2

39

GALIARDI, TJ

18:15

5

6

00:00

0

0

00:00

0

0

44

BUTLER, CHRIS

17:29

8

7

00:00

0

0

02:42

0

4

54

JONES, DAVID

14:18

6

6

02:05

3

0

00:00

0

0

60

GRANLUND, MARKUS

13:58

2

9

01:02

1

0

00:00

0

0

Period

Totals

EV

PP

5v3 PP

SH

5v3 SH

1

13

11

13

11

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

2

6

9

2

3

3

0

1

0

0

6

0

0

3

5

7

3

7

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

4

1

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

(Flames in blue)

RED WARRIOR

Who else could it be?

Sean Monahan played 16 minutes and scored both Calgary goals. On a night where Mike Cammalleri appeared to be somewhere else entirely, Monahan was firmly in the here and now and was a difference-maker for the visitors.

Honourable mention to Mark Giordano, who's always pretty strong.

SUM IT UP

The Flames have moved their record to 23-30-7. They're 5 points up on Edmonton for last in the West with 2 games in hand. The club's last game prior to Wednesday's NHL trade deadline is on Monday night in the Twin Cities as the Flames visit the Minnesota Wild.

Word from Edmonton is Reto Berra gets the start, Kevin Westgarth is heading home to get evaluated and Lee Stempniak (whose wife had twins today) is meeting the team in Minny.

Ryan Pike has covered the Calgary Flames since 2010. He's Senior Contributing Editor at FlamesNation, a Senior Writer covering the Flames and the NHL Draft for The Hockey Writers, and a correspondent for the Fischler Report. You can see his hand or the side of his head on TV sometimes.

As much as I want the #1 pick, I hate edmonton more. I can't say that I'm all distraught by the flames future. With monohan. Granlund, coburne, brodie, etc, I can see some positives. Add gudreau and who ever we pick this year and we have some building blocks. And tell be berra is not a good future #2..

Monahan should definitely hit the low 20's. 21 is the Flames' rookie record. As the leading goal scorer on the team it looks like keeping him this year was the right decision. He and Byron often work well together as they did in O/T tonight.

Berra didn't collapse after the Perron goal as he might have earlier in the season. It's looking more like a three way race in goal with Ramo, Berra and Ortio. I think the Flames should/will resign him although hopefully to a two-way contract.

That was either an excellent start for Berra or par for the course for Edmonton's forwards. Either way, good stuff.

Monahan is still just 19 and needs a lot of shelter. Fortunately, playing against Taylor Hall counts as "shelter"!

Granlund might not have gotten an A, but he played really well tonight also. He's definitely earned a longer look on the big team.

The Flames outshot the Oilers 30-22 but still just squeaked out a win in OT. Finishing remains a problem. Still, I'll take problems with finishing over the Oiler's problems with... uh... everything.

Also, what the heck was the color commentator smoking tonight? He chided the Oilers for not "dominating" the lowly Flames repeatedly, as if they were a team that wasn't below the Flames in the standings! Real "derp alert" material there. Maybe the CBC's NHL hockey exit strategy is to suck so hard so fans won't miss them when everything moves to Sportsnet.

I was watching Twitter tonight (I know awful), regardless if there was a consensus equilibrium between the Oilers and Flames fans it is the similar dislike for Glen Healy. The comments he makes have such a disregard for hockey in general and are also completely inaccurate to the game at hand. He was chirping Berra just as he was playing lights out, also at the same time chirping RHN who is only 20 years old and at that moment was crashing the net risking injury for a goal. If there was two players not to say something negative about it was those two in this game, but of course Glen Healy is "above everyone else" (in his mind). He makes PJ Stock look like a genius, the guys got to go. We are taking about someone who said Pavel Datsyuk was "unskilled"!!! What a moron!!! Everything he says is a complete misrepresentation of the game at hand and the situation in particular. I'm done listening to a career backup goaltender not only talking about the most irrelevant things, but saying it whilst they are doing something positive.

I was watching Twitter tonight (I know awful), regardless if there was a consensus equilibrium between the Oilers and Flames fans it is the similar dislike for Glen Healy. The comments he makes have such a disregard for hockey in general and are also completely inaccurate to the game at hand. He was chirping Berra just as he was playing lights out, also at the same time chirping RHN who is only 20 years old and at that moment was crashing the net risking injury for a goal. If there was two players not to say something negative about it was those two in this game, but of course Glen Healy is "above everyone else" (in his mind). He makes PJ Stock look like a genius, the guys got to go. We are taking about someone who said Pavel Datsyuk was "unskilled"!!! What a moron!!! Everything he says is a complete misrepresentation of the game at hand and the situation in particular. I'm done listening to a career backup goaltender not only talking about the most irrelevant things, but saying it whilst they are doing something positive.

I took a shot at the CBC earlier, but honestly, the 'B' team they field for Western games is actually pretty awful. Sportsnet is awful too, but it won't take much for them to produce better coverage of western teams than the CBC does. Of course, it remains to be seen if Roger's has any cash left for Sportsnet after they finish setting up Bettman's new '66 Dom Perignon and Baby Beluga blood jacuzi.

It's great that Monahan scored two goals on two shots but he was truly god awful the rest of the night. 7 Corsi Events for 18 against. That's while being deployed in the offensive zone 75% of the time. He was one of Calgary's worst forward last night if not the worst statistically. When his shooting percentage comes back to earth, it's going to be really ugly for him out there. He put together some nice games before the Olympic break but overall he still looks way over his head out there.

amen brother, throw hrudey in the mix as well. harper should be calling the cbc execs heads for roll. a hockey nation like canada pays these moronic village idgits to invade our homes on the sacred day.

With two games in hand it is possible that the Flames could be 9 points up on the Oilers, with two games in hand it is possible that the Sabres can catch the Oilers. yikes, they could have another #1 overall, this was supposed to be their year to move and move they have, down from 7th to currently 2nd (last). I hope our organization doesn't have to go through this.

If you hate the broadcast team so much just turn on mute and write on the blog. I hate the guy that does the Leafs games he is both terrible and such a homer.

I hope and pray that Westgarth is okay but another meaningless staged hockey fight gone wrong. Again let me restate my position, I have no problem with physical aggressive hockey, I have no problem with a fight as a result of something that happens on the ice between players but fights that start after a face off when neither guy was on the ice the play before is just unwarranted.

If the Flames make a trade I suspect it to be today/tomorrow.(Wild guess)I wonder if Stemp is in the conversations considering the birth of the twins.

wideman may be a piece berserkie considers moving, many teams in the east are in the wildcard race and may have a need for a player of his ilk. tampa is loaded with youth perhaps a package deal with the bolts, columbus could use a dman, the pens too.

the flames best assets are gio,wideman, and the kids, unfortunately there isnt an abundance of topshelf talent on the mothership.

wideman may be a piece berserkie considers moving, many teams in the east are in the wildcard race and may have a need for a player of his ilk. tampa is loaded with youth perhaps a package deal with the bolts, columbus could use a dman, the pens too.

the flames best assets are gio,wideman, and the kids, unfortunately there isnt an abundance of topshelf talent on the mothership.

I agree Wides might be someone who is moved. I can't see Gio being moved; he is the heart and soul of this team, almost scored twice, saved a goal. That being said if they moved him it would need to be kings ransom.

gio is the straw that sturs the drink, he could fetch a healthy return now that the gm s chair has an actual hockey guy instead of a used car salesman. after watching the game last night it is evident that neither alberta is truly nhl calibre. looked similar to a relegation game between eastern moldovia and kazakstan.

No way! He got tagged by a lucky punch! Website is a top 10 enforcer and will return to form! Go Westie! GAZDIC followed the code like McGrattan does so there is no need for retribution. However, we all know GAZDIC and McGrats will go next game! Every Oiler and Flame fan/player hopes Westie is OK! Bad luck doing a very tough job most of us could never even have 1% of the courage these guys do!

I find it interesting that there has only been 1 trade. Goes to show you that Feaster was clueless how to sell & get max value. All we will probably hear are wild rumours as the MSM hype up their TDL bonanza on Weds. We may see a few moves by Tues. Kudos to Burke for waiting patiently & its pretty obvious Cammi is in no rush to sign an extension here in Calgary. Not that I blame him, would do the same myself & I was born here :0

Kent, tone it down on the Wideman analysing :) I think we can get pretty decent value yet in the trade market. Considering the only asset we gave up was overpaying, his work in the last few years hasn't been all bad. I think a 1st & decent prospect isn't out of the realm & that is all gravy. Why being active during free agency madness isn't such a bad thing if you have the cap space.

I find it interesting that there has only been 1 trade. Goes to show you that Feaster was clueless how to sell & get max value. All we will probably hear are wild rumours as the MSM hype up their TDL bonanza on Weds. We may see a few moves by Tues. Kudos to Burke for waiting patiently & its pretty obvious Cammi is in no rush to sign an extension here in Calgary. Not that I blame him, would do the same myself & I was born here :0

Kent, tone it down on the Wideman analysing :) I think we can get pretty decent value yet in the trade market. Considering the only asset we gave up was overpaying, his work in the last few years hasn't been all bad. I think a 1st & decent prospect isn't out of the realm & that is all gravy. Why being active during free agency madness isn't such a bad thing if you have the cap space.

A 1st and a prospect for Wideman?! Come on man lets be serious here. You'd be lucky to get one or the other never mind both. I'm thinking a 2nd and maybe a C level prospect. I think we would be better off waiting/ hoping for a turn around next season from Wideman, then hope for a better return at the deadline. Better draft year anyway. JMO but he is struggling this season.

A 1st and a prospect for Wideman?! Come on man lets be serious here. You'd be lucky to get one or the other never mind both. I'm thinking a 2nd and maybe a C level prospect. I think we would be better off waiting/ hoping for a turn around next season from Wideman, then hope for a better return at the deadline. Better draft year anyway. JMO but he is struggling this season.

The Wideman debate is interesting as I did not see him struggle at the beginning of the season, I really thought that him and Russell where a sound unit and then he got hurt and he has not been as good. Also Hartley has broken him and Russell apart I think to help both Butler and Smid and playing with either of them brings with it it's own set of problems. For me the next few days will be interesting to see what Burke can do to reshape the club in his image. I hope it goes well.

I haven't found Don Cherry useful or even funny in the past 2 decades, he did however make an excellent point regarding Gadzic last night.
Why does a one dimensional face puncher need to wear a visor? Regardless on your position on hockey enforcers, no player wearing a visor should be allowed to fight with it on. What a coward.

I find it interesting that there has only been 1 trade. Goes to show you that Feaster was clueless how to sell & get max value. All we will probably hear are wild rumours as the MSM hype up their TDL bonanza on Weds. We may see a few moves by Tues. Kudos to Burke for waiting patiently & its pretty obvious Cammi is in no rush to sign an extension here in Calgary. Not that I blame him, would do the same myself & I was born here :0

Kent, tone it down on the Wideman analysing :) I think we can get pretty decent value yet in the trade market. Considering the only asset we gave up was overpaying, his work in the last few years hasn't been all bad. I think a 1st & decent prospect isn't out of the realm & that is all gravy. Why being active during free agency madness isn't such a bad thing if you have the cap space.

Wideman is a -16 in 44 games this year. As much as I believe plus minus is a completely useless stat, many GMs still utilize it and I'm sure GMs will notice that Gio is a +2 while playing much more difficult competition. That doesn't help Wideman's value much.

Wideman is a defensive liability with a big pricetag and lots of term still left. I think they could get something for him just because of the above average offence he brings, but I think a 1st and a prospect is certainly wishful thinking.

The Wideman debate is interesting as I did not see him struggle at the beginning of the season, I really thought that him and Russell where a sound unit and then he got hurt and he has not been as good. Also Hartley has broken him and Russell apart I think to help both Butler and Smid and playing with either of them brings with it it's own set of problems. For me the next few days will be interesting to see what Burke can do to reshape the club in his image. I hope it goes well.

Trading a guy under contract won't be something Burke rushes into unless the offer is tremendous. He will be focusing on the impending ufa's and then look at other stuff at the draft I would assume. Wideman got his bell rung early last night by the Windshield Warrior which is why Westgarth challenged him as he was running around rather than a staged fight. That may have had something to do with Wideman's rough night last night.

The Wideman debate is interesting as I did not see him struggle at the beginning of the season, I really thought that him and Russell where a sound unit and then he got hurt and he has not been as good. Also Hartley has broken him and Russell apart I think to help both Butler and Smid and playing with either of them brings with it it's own set of problems. For me the next few days will be interesting to see what Burke can do to reshape the club in his image. I hope it goes well.

I agree Couch. Everyone is trashing Wideman but last year he was pretty good & made a huge difference on our power play & earlier this year he was decent. Since the injury, I agree he hasn't been as good, tough crowd. Don't feel like debating hypothetical returns because no one knows. I think a guy like Wideman is a known commodity in the NHL & there is more value for a 4-5 dman with PP skills than people on here realize. Whatever, he probably wont be traded anyway.

Wideman is a -16 in 44 games this year. As much as I believe plus minus is a completely useless stat, many GMs still utilize it and I'm sure GMs will notice that Gio is a +2 while playing much more difficult competition. That doesn't help Wideman's value much.

Wideman is a defensive liability with a big pricetag and lots of term still left. I think they could get something for him just because of the above average offence he brings, but I think a 1st and a prospect is certainly wishful thinking.

He started out the season with tougher minutes and since he's been back from injury he's been paired with guys like SOB, Breen and Smid. I still think his injury is affecting him, he's not shooting the puck like he used to. That said, Wideman is a capable #3 that has good offensive #'s over his career. Offence is always in demand. If we retain salary , it could be very well worth sometimes times. Or in their case, prospects and picks.

It's great that Monahan scored two goals on two shots but he was truly god awful the rest of the night. 7 Corsi Events for 18 against. That's while being deployed in the offensive zone 75% of the time. He was one of Calgary's worst forward last night if not the worst statistically. When his shooting percentage comes back to earth, it's going to be really ugly for him out there. He put together some nice games before the Olympic break but overall he still looks way over his head out there.

What a ridiculous comment. A 19 year old scores both goals in a 2-1 victory and someone is counting his corsi. Statistics can be useful but you can't measure hockey sense, touch around the net and the ability to score big goals. Of course, according to this poster, Hartley should sit Monahan for the rest of the season.

What a ridiculous comment. A 19 year old scores both goals in a 2-1 victory and someone is counting his corsi. Statistics can be useful but you can't measure hockey sense, touch around the net and the ability to score big goals. Of course, according to this poster, Hartley should sit Monahan for the rest of the season.

Yeah, I'm not worried too much about Monahan's Corsi, or his high shooting percentage. A quick look at hockey reference shows that a high S% isn't really a bad thing. Guys who have done what he has at his age, i.e. scored 16 even strength goals before they are 20 and score on 1 out of 8 shots or better (since the mid-90's):

I agree Couch. Everyone is trashing Wideman but last year he was pretty good & made a huge difference on our power play & earlier this year he was decent. Since the injury, I agree he hasn't been as good, tough crowd. Don't feel like debating hypothetical returns because no one knows. I think a guy like Wideman is a known commodity in the NHL & there is more value for a 4-5 dman with PP skills than people on here realize. Whatever, he probably wont be traded anyway.

Agree with you guys...also now is not the time to trade Wideman. As his term shortens his trade value will skyrocket!

I haven't found Don Cherry useful or even funny in the past 2 decades, he did however make an excellent point regarding Gadzic last night.
Why does a one dimensional face puncher need to wear a visor? Regardless on your position on hockey enforcers, no player wearing a visor should be allowed to fight with it on. What a coward.

Doesn't he have to wear one now? They were grandfathering visors in and maybe he missed the boat.

I haven't found Don Cherry useful or even funny in the past 2 decades, he did however make an excellent point regarding Gadzic last night.
Why does a one dimensional face puncher need to wear a visor? Regardless on your position on hockey enforcers, no player wearing a visor should be allowed to fight with it on. What a coward.

A one-dimensional face puncher can still take a puck to the eye like any other skater on the ice.

A one-dimensional face puncher can still take a puck to the eye like any other skater on the ice.

Yeah, just because he's expected to get punched in the face (and in turn punch people in the face) doesn't mean that he still isn't playing a game where a disc of galvanized rubber is flung around at 100mph.

Funny anecdote about Healy... I watched the Canada/US game with a coworker of mine who doesn't watch, or even really pay attention to Hockey... immediately after Healy made some stupid analogy my friend said, "What a stupid comment." Apparently you don't even need to know anything about the sport to know Healy is a hack.

I agree Couch. Everyone is trashing Wideman but last year he was pretty good & made a huge difference on our power play & earlier this year he was decent. Since the injury, I agree he hasn't been as good, tough crowd. Don't feel like debating hypothetical returns because no one knows. I think a guy like Wideman is a known commodity in the NHL & there is more value for a 4-5 dman with PP skills than people on here realize. Whatever, he probably wont be traded anyway.

4-5 dman sure, 4-5 dman who isn't great on D and has a massive contract is a much harder sell.

If the Flames want something good for Wideman, they have to be willing to retain salary, which is an asset that I really hope Edwards utilizes.

He started out the season with tougher minutes and since he's been back from injury he's been paired with guys like SOB, Breen and Smid. I still think his injury is affecting him, he's not shooting the puck like he used to. That said, Wideman is a capable #3 that has good offensive #'s over his career. Offence is always in demand. If we retain salary , it could be very well worth sometimes times. Or in their case, prospects and picks.

His RElQual Comp is -0.329, his offensive zone start is at 62.9%, and his RelCorsi is -3.1.

I'd say Wideman's been pretty mediocre all year, and with his lack of scoring, his contract is not looking so hot right now